


Crumbling Kingdoms

by felizabeth133



Series: Before, After and During [1]
Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 08:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30018816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felizabeth133/pseuds/felizabeth133
Summary: Sometimes it's hard being king. Sometimes there's a lot of rebuilding to some damages... damages that you might have caused. But then there are the damages you didn't cause... and your betrothed sitting next to you while you try to figure out the best way to rebuild both of your kingdoms. It wasn't much but it wasn't better than nothing...a betrothed... and a crumbling kingdom. That was what Dorian Havilliard had left.
Relationships: Aedion Ashryver & Original Character, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Rowan Whitethorn, Chaol Westfall & Yrene, Dorian Havilliard & Original Character, Elide Lochan/Lorcan Salvaterre
Series: Before, After and During [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2208273





	1. Chapter 1

_~7 years ago~_

"Stop! You're going to cut yourself!" Calandra exclaimed as she rushed over to her friend.

"Oh come on. It's a rose bush. I'm not going to cut myself," Dorian argued as Calandra reached his side.

"You say that but I saw you cut yourself on a butter knife once."

"It was a very sharp butter knife," Dorian told her with a slight pout.

"I'll let you keep believing that but it was blunt and you bled all over my dress." 

Dorian raised an eyebrow but had an amused smile on his face as Calandra took his arm and led him back to the path, away from the rose bushes. It wouldn't be the first time that Calandra would steer the slightly younger boy away from the rose bushes so that neither of them ended up hurt. After all, the sixteen year old boy had ended up rather accident prone in the last month or so for no reason that Calandra could find to explain it. 

She'd come to the conclusion that maybe he was cursed because she had never seen someone get that hurt that often for such stupid reasons like she had with Dorian in the last week that she had seen him. 

"I was getting you a rose by the way," Dorian told her as he wrapped an arm around her waist, walking beside her down the path that led back to the manor. 

"Why were you getting me a rose?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow, leaning her head against his shoulder. 

"Well, it is your birthday so I thought I should get you a flower along with your present. Just make it little bit more dramatic and loving." 

She smiled softly and looked up at him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay, well, for starters I told you not to get me anything but I kind of knew that you would anyway. Though I was kind of hoping that this meeting would stress you out as much as it is me so that you'd forget it." 

The meeting... 

He'd almost completely forgot about this stupid meeting that her father was having with the other Lords. How he'd forgotten about it was beyond him because he had been freaking out about this stupid meeting for the last month or so and it was the other reason that he had snuck out in to town to be around her for the whole day and not just the party that was being thrown in celebration of her birthday. 

The meeting was about her marriage. Her father wanted her to marry one of the other Lord's sons, apparently disapproving of the relationship that Calandra had with the future King of Adarlan. Her marrying a lowly Lord was about the only amount of power and wealth that her father wanted. He was strictly against the monarchy so the fact that Calandra had befriended and then decided to date the prince was pretty much an abomination in her father's mind. 

Dorian stopped walking and pulled Calandra close, one hand on her waist and the other cupping her cheek so that she looked up at him. "I promise you that the outcome of that meeting is not going to change anything." 

Calandra gave him a weak smile and sighed. "That isn't exactly a promise that you can make, Dorian." 

"Well, I did anyway, and I'm going to kiss you to make it official." 

And that was the last time that he kissed her. 


	2. Chapter 2

_~Present Day~_

"You're fidgety." 

"I'm not fidgety. Shut up." 

"Dorian, I have a two year old daughter and I've been by your side since we were kids. I know fidgety." 

"Chaol, shut up." 

Chaol rolled his eyes as he watched Dorian fiddle with a button that he'd pulled off of his shirt sleeve. He knew exactly why Dorian was being fidgety and he knew why he refused to admit it. The reason could be summed up with one simple name. 

Calandra Ferrington. 

It had been a long time since it had been just the two of them in a room and now Dorian was expected to talk to her and give his condolences for the death of her father, Lord Ferrington. The funeral was planned for next week but since Lord Ferrington had decided that he did not want his daughter living in his estate after his death, Dorian had reached out almost instinctively and offered Calandra a room at the palace. Usually, Chaol would have argued against this but this was Calandra and he knew that having her around might actually improve Dorian's mood instead of make it worse. 

That had been the hope anyway but now Chaol wasn't so sure if that would work out. Now Chaol was seeing just how much being in the same room as Calandra again was stressing Dorian out and he wasn't so sure that Dorian was going to make it through the day without copious amounts of alcohol. Then again, since the war Dorian hadn't exactly made it through a day without drinking at least a bottle of wine. Today he would probably get through a minimum of three. 

Dorian visibly tensed when somebody came in to tell him that she was here. He made his way down to the foyer and started to pace back and forth, not even hesitating or acknowledging the look that the guards sent in Chaol's direction. Chaol just shook his head to get them to not say anything and they both nodded in agreement, knowing it would just result in Dorian snapping at either of them. That wasn't exactly something that they wanted to deal with. Today was not the day to be teasing the very powerful King of Adarlan. Actually anything to do with Calandra was not something to tease Dorian about. 

The only sounds in the vast foyer were Dorian's footsteps, the shuffle of the guards moving in to more comfortable positions, and the piece of paper that Chaol was fiddling with in his hands. Those sounds were then joined by a new set of footsteps and Dorian's pacing ceased. He tensed slightly as he took in the woman that he had once loved and how different she looked now to how she had been all those years ago. 

She was a bit bigger now but in a way that complimented the figure she had always had. Her dark skin was flawless and her long purple hair was pinned up. As always, everything about her was flawless, at least to Dorian. Everyone else could see the slight uneven edge to her jaw and the fact that one of her eyes was slightly higher than the other. Her nose had a slight fraction of a tilt from when she had broken it against a door that Dorian had opened in to her face when they were ten. Dorian didn't see them as little imperfections though. Everything about her was perfect. It always had been and it always would be and there would always be a part of him that was in love with her. 

Chaol knew that and he knew deep down Dorian did too. He just wouldn't admit it. 

"Miss Ferrington. It's a pleasure to have you gracing us with your presence," Dorian said a bit too sweetly, making his way over and kissing the back of her hand in that charming fashion of his. 

"I'm pretty sure we know each other well enough for you to call me Calandra, Your Majesty," Calandra retorted, bringing a smile to Dorian's face. 

"Then I guess it's only fair that you call me Dorian. I never have been one for titles." 

"I'm fully aware of that." 

Chaol noticed the smile on Dorian's face and visibly relaxed. It didn't take much to put him on edge but Dorian's... behaviour was usually something that always had Chaol waiting for something to go wrong. It wasn't that he didn't trust his best friend, his brother, but it was more that he just didn't need to deal with the paperwork that an incident involving the King might cause. Paperwork kept him away from his daughter and Yrene. Paperwork was the worst part about his job. 

"I'm sure you remember Chaol?" Dorian asked Calandra with a raised eyebrow. 

"Well considering he has visited me countless times in the last five years, I would say that I do," Calandra said softly, sending Chaol a friendly and inviting smile. He smiled back. 

"I'm glad to see that you're okay. I was sorry to hear about your father," Chaol commented lightly. 

"I wasn't," Dorian said with a shrug. "He kind of deserved it, no offense of course, Calandra." 

Calandra just rolled her eyes. "I've learnt over the years to never take offense to anything you say, Havilliard." 

"Well then you'll settle in nicely, Ferrington." 

"Well, I assumed that would be obvious."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, like I do in my Azriel fanfic, I am going to be putting fun facts at the end of each of these chapters! So:
> 
> Fun Fact: Calandra was originally meant to be my oc from the Aedion fanfic that I am drafting. 


End file.
